Mediatization, polarization, and intolerance (between environments, media, and circulation)

103 Mediatization of collective emotions Jacques A. Wainberg 1 Abstract : This presentation highlights the relevance and the role that technological innovations have in promoting social engagement. Actors have learned to use the media to encour- age public support. Among them are celebrities and political ac- tors. The special case of the monarchy is examined. This regime is skilled in articulating its messages. For that, it sensitizes the public with its motives and symbols. Collective adoration of the aristocracy is the result. Keywords : Technology; Sentiments; Media 1. Introduction In this short speech, I want to first make a brief reflec - tion on communication technology. To a large extent, human history has been the history of the relationship between human beings and the material world. This approach has been belittled by those who, for a long time, separate the body from the mind, flesh from spirit, emotion from reason. The time has come to put the pieces together. It is worth stating that there has always been a symbi- otic relationship between people and their environment, natu- ral and artificial, which is constituted with artifacts created to expand the potential of the human body. Technological devices are, in fact, extensions of our senses. We want to see far. We want to get around faster. We want to hear well despite the distances. We want to think better. We want more connection and intimacy. The argument is this - technologists are the true rev- olutionaries in history. The effects of the apparatuses far out- 1 Professor of the Graduate Program in Communication at PUC-RS and researcher at CNPq. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9274-4717 E-mail: jacqalwa@pucrs.br .